Gustavo Dudamel

BIRTHDAY CONCERT FOR POPE BENEDICT XVI 0734357

There is energy in abundance, to be sure. Dudamel¿s fingers are always working the emotional thermostat. The rhythmic vitality that comes through is as close as you can get to canning wildness. The last movement of the Beethoven Seventh takes off like a rocket. All three symphonies end terrifically. The culmination of the Mahler is enough to make one stand up and cheer the CD player . . . you can see why everyone is talking about Dudamel. The immediacy of his gestures seems to make the music exist in four, rather than three, dimensions . . . I can¿t imagine a better 80th birthday present. In rejuvenating a hoary symphony, Dudamel seems to transfer that freshness to everyone around him. Maybe it¿s just my imagination, but when the pope walks onstage at the end of the concert to thank Dudamel, Hahn and the orchestra, he seems to have a spring in his step that wasn¿t there when he entered the hall . . . This is a document of Dudamel at 26 . . . The significance of the ¿New World¿ Symphony to a young man for whom the world is his oyster is apparent. And as we watch and listen to this marvelous performance, that world, for 45 fabulous minutes, is ours as well.

Record Review /
Mark Swed,
Los Angeles Times / 27. August 2007

. . . conducted with great dash and style by Gustavo Dudamel, whose gestures at times resembles Claudio Abbado's. He also gives his all in a performance of Dvorák's evergreen "New World" Symphony, which . . . brings out the music's often violent dynamic contrasts to stunning effect. Hilary Hahn is also on sparkling form in the Mozart G major, as technically immaculate and poised as ever . . . Pinsharp picture quality and pristine engineering.

. . . the sound is actually quite stunning in its DTS 5.1 guise, brilliant and clear without losing a degree of warmth . . . Stuttgart RSO plays very well . . . the real interest in this DVD is to watch the excessively praised Venezuelan "Wunderkind" Gustavo Dudamel . . . With his gregarious and somewhat scary full-blown smile . . . you cannot accuse him of being uninvolved with his conducting . . . This concert is very serviceable in great sound and is a memento of the celebration at hand.

Make no mistake -- the "hype" about Gustavo Dudamel is fully merited. Anyone who doubts it should view this video . . . The concert was framed with the Stuttgart brass under Dudamel performing antiphonal works of Gabrieli, a wonderfully appropriate start and end to the music, and well played. But it is the Mozart and Dvorák that will get the lion's share of attention, and they represent music-making of a special nature. In the Mozart, conductor and soloist are of one mind . . . chamber music on a somewhat larger scale. The nature of the performance is warm and singing . . . extremely satisfying. Hahn's tone is rich and varied, her legato impeccable, and her own cadenzas are at once flashy and tasteful. The slow movement flows without a hint of a bar line, and one holds one's breath as the music unfolds. In the Dvorák we see, and hear, just what it is that makes the 26-year-old Venezuelan conductor special . . . he has intangible quality of podium presence . . . everything Dudamel feels about the music pours out of him. His face, his eyes, his hands, and his body are uniquely expressive -- showing what kind of sound he wants, what shape of phrase, what color, and what kind of attack . . . He also has a keen ear for balance and color -- bringing out various voices . . . I found this "New World" beautiful, exciting, touching, exuberant -- in short everything one hopes for in a performance . . . this is very important documentation of the beginning of what is likely to be one of the truly great conducting careers of the 21st century, and for that reason should not be missed.